Ferrari confirms Raikkonen race engineer for 2014

Ferrari has confirmed that Antonio Spagnolo will be Kimi Raikkonen’s race engineer during the 2014 Formula 1 season.

A statement on Ferrari’s official website confirmed that Raikkonen paid a visit to Maranello on Tuesday to meet team principal Stefano Domenicali.

He also spent time with senior engineers, including Spagnolo, as part of his preliminary preparations for his Ferrari comeback.

Raikkonen missed the last two races of 2013 and underwent successful back surgery in mid-November but returns to Ferrari after a four-season absence next year.

Spagnolo will be Raikkonen’s third race engineer at Ferrari, having been run to the 2007 world championship by Chris Dyer, Michael Schumacher’s former engineer, and then by Andrea Stella in ’08.

With Stella now working with Alonso and Dyer having left the team after the 2010 F1 season, ex-Minardi engineer Spagnolo, who joined Ferrari in 2005 and worked on the Spaniard’s engineering team 2013, will work with the Finn.

Raikkonen will have his first test in the 2014 Ferrari during the first pre-season test at Jerez, which kicks off on January 28.